Disappearing Act
by ThePhotogenicTaco
Summary: Dangerous missions, a family tragedy and a missing sister? Arisa sure has a lot to deal with. How much more can she deal with? *Possible pairings!* ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or it's characters; only the OCs that appear in the story.**

 **A.N: I'm in the process of finding a Beta Reader, so be patient. If you are a beta reader and you'd like to help me improve my writing i'd be so grateful! Sorry this chapter is a bit shorter than I wanted, but once I get the hang of writing again i'll be sure to do longer chapters.**

"Arisa. Hey, wake up." the brunette stirred in her sleep, trying not to let the girl wake her up. She knew that her sister was the one trying to wake her for the daily squad meeting, but she didn't want to wake up just yet. She managed to drift soundly off into a comfortable sleep once again, however, it didn't last too long.

She felt a firm hand smack her across the face and immediately opened her eyes, meeting Saeko's same brown-eyed gaze. "Hey, what the-?" Arisa stopped in the middle of her sentence when the her sibling made her way to the door.

"We need to leave. Hurry up and get ready." the door closed behind her, leaving the brunette alone again. Knowing she'd get a lot more than a slap in the face for not getting up now, the girl climbed out of bed and stretched her tense arm muscles.

It only took the girl about ten minutes before she was ready to go, which was record time for her. She stepped into the kitchen and made herself a breakfast bagel, waiting for her sister to come out so they could leave.

She looked around the house, seeing that it was unsually quiet. _'Mother and Father must have left to run errands or something.'_ the brunette through to herself, shrugging. She didn't mind them being gone for a few hours.

Her mother was always babbling nervously about something, which gave Arisa a headache sometimes. Her Father, Kane, was an entirely different from her, in all respects. The man raised his family in a strict enviroment. He didn't like mediocraty one bit; he liked promise and progress in all fields. To him, failure was never an option.

 _'What's taking Saeko so long? She was the one rushing me a few minutes ago!'_ she said to herself, letting her thoughts drift back to her twin sister.

As if on cue, the brown-haired girl stepped out of her room and glaced over at her. "So, are you ready to get going now?" she asked.

"Yeah, let's get going." she replied after finishing her breakfast, making sure she had everything she needed. With that, the two girls left their house and started walking through the village and to the training grounds.

Somewhere else in the village, two members of Team 7 were standing at the usual meeting spot, patiently awaiting their third member and squad leader.

"Naruto'd better hurry or he's gonna be late!" Sakura thought silently to herself, only a bit irritated. She heard footsteps thudding quickly on the wooden bridge, and looked up in time to find Naruto running in her direction.

"Heya, good morning Sakura!" he chirped, but his cheerful expression was replaced by one of annoyance when he noticed his other teammate. The two boys made eye contact for a moment before they both huffed and looked away, causing the young girl in between them to sigh in defeat.

She knew that the two boys acted foul toward each other, but she had noticed that it was getting worse. Ever since they completed their mission of guarding Tazuna, the bridge builder in the land of waves, their attitudes toward each other had only gotten worse.

They lazed around on that bridge for a good two hours before their teacher had shown up. He perched on one of the bridge arches and smiled underneath his mask. "Sorry I'm late guys, I'm afraid I got lost on the path of life." he greeted, causing Sakura and Naruto to yell out in annoyance.

He made his way down to meet his students, and the hyperactive blonde wasted no time. "Sensei, I'm ready for the next mission! And hey, no more of this dumb beginner stuff, okay!? I want a chance to prove myself, a mission where I can show what I'm made of!" he exclaimed loudly, and Kakashi stepped back a bit.

"Um, I get it Naruto, that's great. Now, why don't you take it easy?" the blonde didn't answer, but turned around to look at the young Uchiha boy again. His calm onyx gaze only fueled the fire within, making him even more irate.

"Just let us know when you've stopped fantasizing, so we can get to the mission." Kakashi reminded him, snapping him out of his thought process.

"Gosh Naruto, can you not be so annoying for once?!" Sakura complained, irritated with her teammates behavior. The young blonde just scratched the back of his head with a dumb grin on his face. Then, they were briefed about their missions.

Their first mission was simple weed pulling, but Naruto managed so screw something up, just as he always did. He received a savage beating from the client, walking away pretty bruised. Next mission was cleaning up garbage in a stream, which featured another one of Naruto's famous screw-ups.

The third and final mission was dog walking, which seemed simple enough for even the blonde to manage. However, Naruto decided that he could handle the largest dog. Unfortunately for him, the dog had pulled him straight through a minefield.

They finished their work for the day and made it back to the village dragging Naruto with them. He was bruised and scratched up pretty badly from the poor choices he made during the missions.

"You're hopeless, Naruto!" the pink haired kunoichi scolded as she used her weight to support him.

"Geez, you really are just one big problem." this comment from the Uchiha fired Naruto up once again. He cocked his fist, but stopped when Sakura threatened him.

"I guess we aren't making a lot of progress on the teamwork thing, are we?" Kakashi muttered with a sigh.

"You're damn right! Our teamwork is all messed up and it's all because of you, Sasuke! You think you're better than everyone else?!" he screamed, and the raven haired boy didn't bother to turn around.

"Not everyone, just you. Face it," he turned to face the blonde boy, glaring. "I'm better and stronger than you are. It's a fact, unless you have a way to disprove it." there were a few moments of silence and hostile glares before the Jounin sighed and stopped his team.

"Alright guys, let's call it a day, shall we? You can beat each other to a pulp some other time." Kakashi suggested, closing his book. "Anyways, I have to file my report on this mission."

"Fine by me, I'm going home." and with that, Sasuke turned and started walking away again. Sakura, as boy-crazy as ever, chased after him until she finally caught up.

"So, Sasuke, I was thinking we'd do something more personal. You know, to work on our team work and all." the Uchiha let out an irritated sigh.

"I swear, you're just like Naruto. Instead of flirting why don't you practice so you can help the team." he started to walk away, but stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Let's face it, you're actually worse than Naruto."

Those words reverberated in Sakura's mind, and she felt as if a huge weight had been dropped onto her shoulders. 'I'm... worse than Naruto?' she thought to herself sadly.

The training session that Arisa's squad endured for the day was rigorous, starting with weapons and jutsu use, and ending with an intense sparring match between the three Genin. "Good work today, you three." their squad leader, _, commented.

"I think i'm gonna die." Kyo wheezed, sitting down under the shade of a nearby tree.

"Quit being dramatic, kid. You'll live." Arisa said, earning a glare from the younger boy. She always liked to remind the boy that he was younger than the sisters, and he always hated it.

"Don't call me kid!" he complained, crossing his arms and huffing.

"I'm sorry. Did I hurt your feelings," she started, using his head as a rest for her arm. "Squirt?"

"Alright, that's enough. Before I dismiss you guys for the day, there's something i'd like to tell you." the squad leader informed them.

"What is it?" Arisa asked, curious about what their teacher had in store for them. He pulled out three application forms and passed them out.

"I've reccomended all three of you for the Chunin exams. They start five days from today." he explained.

"Didn't we take those last year?" Arisa asked, and the black haired man nodded.

"Yeah, but this year you may have a better chance of becoming Chunin." he answered, looking over at all three of his Genin. He told them when and where to turn in the application forms before dismissing the three for the day.

The three teens got back to the village and took their time walking around. It was still mid afternoon, so they had time to kill. "So, are you going to do the exams this year?" Saeko asked her blonde teammate, and he nodded confidently.

"I know you guys are, right?"

"Gonna need a lot of last minute training, but yeah."

"We should get home and rest. We can meet tomorrow and get some training in." Saeko suggested, and both of her teammates nodded in agreement. The twins said goodbye to their blonde teammate, before walking back in the direction of their house.

 **~Exam Day~**

"It's a tough crowd this year, huh?" Arisa asked her teammates quietly, and Kyo nodded.

"You've got that right!" he agreed, leaning against the wall.

"It's definitely not going to be anything like last year." she observed, then shot a serious look at her teammates. "Don't screw this up." the brunette warned, and her twin sister sighed. She was always on edge during these exams, and Arisa knew exactly why.

It was their father and how hard he was on them. _'Failure is not an option'_ seemed to be his favorite phrase, because the two girls heard it all the time. They couldn't afford to fail the exams a second time, God only knows what their father would do if they did. She felt bad for her sister, because she knew exactly how it feels to have all that pressure on her.

Arisa's thoughts were interrupted when she heard a commotion to her left. She glanced over to see a group of Genin standing in front of the door. She recognized the two rookie squads right away, and sighed. Sakura from Team 7 and Ino from Team 10 were at it again, fighting over Sasuke Uchiha.

"Leave Sasuke alone, Ino-Pig!" the pink haired Genin screamed, and Ino just smirked, keeping her grip on the Uchiha. They threw insults at each other for a good minute or so, before Shikamaru came along.

:Oh, it's you guys. Lame." He complained, and Naruto narrowed his eyes at the sleepy looking boy.

"Oh look, the Idiot Trio's all together." the blonde mocked.

"Hey you know what-" he looked like he was about to hit the boy, but crossed his arms instead. "Forget it, you're a waste of my time."

All of Arisa's group were just standing there, watching the Rookie Genin stand off against each other. By this time, the third and final rookie team had joined the others. Her team found it much more entertaining to watch all nine rookie Genin going at it than socializing.

"Hey, you guys! You should probably keep it down a little." a new voice called, and the group of rookies watched a boy dressed in purple making his way to them. "You guys are the nine rookies that just got out of the Academy, aren't you? You really shouldn't be drawing attention to yourselves." he informed the group, and Ino glared at him.

"Well who asked you?! We don't even know who you are." she demanded, and he pushed his glasses back into their proper place.

"I'm Kabuto Yakushi. But really, take a look around you. You've made quite the impression." he guestured to his right, and all of the rookies looked over to see hundreds of tough looking Genin glaring at them from across the room. Some look geniunely pissed off and some just looked irritated by the commotion.

"The Exams make everyone tense. It'd be best to not get on their bad sides." he continued, then smiled. "Of course, it's your first year so you couldnt have known." He explained.

"Wait, Kabuto?" Sakura spoke up and he nodded, signalling for her to continue. "It isn't your first time taking these exams, is it?" he looked a bit embarassed, scratching the back of his head.

"No, it's... my seventh." He muttered, almost hoping that no one would hear him. Knowing that the kid was an expert on the Exam, they started asking him all sort of questions. He started showing off cards that apparently held all of the competition's information. Arisa's team was definitely interested, but they decided to stay out of the spotlight for now.

A few minutes passed and Naruto stood up in front of everybody and started yelling things. "My name is Naruto Uuzumaki! I'm going to beat every one of you, remember that!" I facepalmed as he finished his sentence. She may be friends with the rookie, but he could definitely be an idiot sometimes.

"They're gonna kill the kid." Kyo muttered, and the sister had to agree with him. The brunette girl's pet kitten sat perched on her shoulder, meowing to get her owner's attention. She smiled a bit and reached up to scratch behind her ear. The team looked over at the competition. Everyone looked even angrier than they were before. If things continue like this he won't survive even the first exam.

Arisa sat at her assigned seat nervously tapping the eraser of her pencil on the table. Sure she's taken this exam once before so she knows what to expect, but she still gets stressed out by written exams. They never were something she was very good at.

She glanced over at the seventh year Genin, Kabuto. He looked pretty sick, but that was to be expected after what'd just gone down. He offended the Sound Village ninja somehow when he was showing off his Ninja Info Cards, and they attacked him.

"Everyone, eyes front! I'm not repeating these rules again or answering questions, so pay attention!" his deep voice boomed, echoing off the walls of the dead silent classroom. He started scribbling rules down and explaining them so everyone in the room had a clear understanding of what was expected.

Once the rules were explained, Ibiki, the proctor, declared that the test had started. Saeko glanced around her, seeing that only a handful of people knew what they were doing. Sakura seemed to be having no problem with a few of the problem, which was surprising to her.

Unfortunately, Naruto wasn't doing nearly as well as his pink-haired teammate. He'd been frozen up since the test had started, just reading the problems over and over with a confused look on his face. She didn't think that the young blonde had a chance in hell at passing this exam.

Done observing the competition, she read through the problems on her paper and tapped her fingernails rhythmically on the wooden table.

 _"I'm almost certain these are the same tests as last year's.''_ she observed, a smirk appearing on her lips. She could remember the answers to one or two of them, which was fortunate for her. She scribbled in the answers to the first two questions with no problem. It wasn't much, but at least it was a start.

Arisa scratched the back of her head nervously as she read through the questions one more time. This was definitely last year's test, but that didn't really help her considering she couldn't remember a single answer. _''Damn, guess I need to find my answers elsewhere...'_ she thought. She looked around subtly, searching for someone who might have trustworthy answers.

 _Bingo._ The man to her right was obviously a worthy candidate, she just knew it. Before she had the chance to get the answers, she heard one of the sentinels speak. "Number 23, fail!" Turns out it was a boy two rows in front of her who'd gotten caught the five times. He and his team were escorted out of the test room, but more were following.

"Number 53 and 9, fail!"

"Number 35 and 62, fail!" this went on until more than thirteen teams were escorted out of the classroom. _"Is every person here an idiot? Jeez."_ Arisa facepalmed.

"Excuse me!" the sentinel closest to him glanced over at Kankuro, the boy who raised his hand. "Can I use the bathroom?" he asked. grinning innocently.

Next thing he knew, the sentinel had slapped a pair of cuffs onto his wrists that were attached by a rope. "We go with you. To make sure you aren't up to no good."

"That's completely understandable." he said smugly, following the man out of the room. Something seemed strange about that sentinel, though Arisa couldn't quite figure out what it was.

"Before I give you the tenth question, there are some more rules you need to be aware of." Ibiki started, but paused when Kankuro and the sentinel finally returned to the room. "Ah, just in time. I hope you found your trip to the bathroom to be... enlightening." he commented, a knowledgable smirk on his face.

The Sand ninja hesitated a moment before walking to his seat, dropping something onto his older sister's desk as he passed by.

"These rules are unique to question ten, so listen up. But try not to let them frighten you." he kept his serious composure and surveyed the Genin in the room. "Each of you is free to chose whether or not you want to take the tenth question. It's your decision."

"Woah, hold on! So what's the catch? What if we decide we don't _want_ to take the final question?!" Temari spoke up, asking exactly what was on everyone's minds.

"If you choose to not take the tenth question, you'll get a 0 on all nine questions. In other words, you fail!" the Genin immediately started chattering amonst themselves about the new rule. "You didn't let me finish." Ibiki stated, and Sakura let out an irritated sigh.

 _"Just get to it already!"_ she thought, anxious to get this test over with.

"If you choose to take it and answer it incorrectly, _you will not only fail, but you will be barred from taking the Chunin Exams ever again_."


	2. Chapter 2

"That's bull, man! What kind of crappy rule is that?! There are plenty of people who've taken the test before!" Kiba yelled, his dog Akamaru yipping from on top of his head. Ibiki's laugh echoed throughout the silent room.

"I guess you're just unlucky. You see, I wasn't making the rules before, but now I am." he explained, looking right at the dog owner. "If you aren't feeling confident, you can skip it and take it again next year.

It was obvious that a lot of teams were getting discouraged, even Naruto's team. As confident as the rookies were when they came in, it didn't seem likely that they would even think about giving up. They didn't seem too sure about themselves anymore.

"Alright, if you don't want to take the 10th question, raise your hand now. Your number will be recorded and then you can leave." he assured the crowd of remaining Genin.

 _"What could this tenth question be?! What if the question is easy? What if it's not?!"_ Naruto worried, contemplating what he should do. _"If I take it and get it wrong, i'll be a Genin the rest of my life! But if I dont take it... If I skip it, what will the others say?! I can't let them down!"_ he thought frantically, still unsure.

One boy raised his hand in defeat, muttering "That's it, i'm out. I can't do this, i'm sorry."

"Number 50, fail!" he and his two teammates stood up and walked out of the room without another word. Suddenly, hands started shooting up all around the room. They couldn't handle the pressure, or the chance at never ranking up, so they decided to just quit. One after the other, the teams put down their pencils and walked out of the room in defeat.

Arisa glanced around the room, waiting to see if anyone on her team decides to quit. She looked over and her sister, who just crossed her arms and shook her head. Then she looked behind her in Kyo's direction, and he just gave her a thumbs up. She smiled and turned back to the front, confident in her decision.

As surprising as it was, Naruto was the one person left who raised a shaky left hand. He really seemed to be struggling with the choice, based on his pained expression. His teammates seemed the most surprised by this because they knew just how stubborn he was.

He sat there for a few moments silently with his hand raised, before a loud _slam_ echoed through the tense air. Everyone glanced over and saw that it was Naruto, who'd slammed his hand hard onto the table, a sudden air of confidence radiating from him.

"Don't underestimate me! I dont back down and I won't run away!" he yelled. "Act tough all you want! You aren't going to scare me away! I don't care if I get stuck as a Genin for the rest of my life," he stood up and looked the proctor right in the eye, a serious expression on his face. _"I'll still be Hokage someday!"_

"This decision is one that could change your life. If for any reason you want to to quit, now is your last chance." Ibiki warned, but he knew that wasn't going to change the blonde's mind.

"No way, I never go back on my word. That's the way of the ninja." he replied confidently.

 _"Hm, remarkable. He's given the others some backbone, inspired them into staying."_ he surveyed the room again, but it was obvious that every one else was confident in their decision.

"Well then, I admire your determination. I guess there's only one thing to do now, and that's for me to tell you..." with a grin on his face, the scarred older male stepped forward. "That you all passed the first exam."

"Hey Blondie, wait up!" Naruto and his teammates turned around just in time to see Arisa rushing over.

"Hey Arisa! Congrats on passing!" he greeted with a wide smile.

"Same to you guys! So, do you all wanna get some ramen? It's my treat." she didn't have the chance to say anything else, because the blonde knucklehead hugged her tightly, screaming "Thank you!" over and over in her ear. Sakura and Kyo agreed to go with, but Sasuke and Saeko declined and went back to their homes.

"Welcome!" the friendly old man greeted. They all took seats on the stools and Arisa pulled some money from her pocket, handing him enough to cover their food. "Four bowls coming up!" he took out four clean bowls and started cooking the noodles.

"So, you guys ready for the next exam?" the brown-haired girl asked, and both of the rookies grinned.

"Of course! It's gonna be a piece of cake!" the blonde boy cheered, throwing a fist into the air. She couldn't help but laugh a bit at how pumped he was.

"The next exam is pretty tough, actually."

"Sure is. We didn't even pass it last year." Kyo added to his teammates statement, and Sakura blinked in surprise.

"You guys took the exam last year?" the brunette nodded in reply to her question. She was about to reply, but stopped when the food arrived. She thanked the man as he put their steaming bowls of noodles in front of them, before smiling at the three other Genin. They sat and enjoyed their ramen, discussing the exam as they ate.

Once they finished eating, the four of them left the ramen shop and started walking again. The giant yellow sun was beginning to sink behind the pink-orange sky, signalling that it was time for everyone to head home. They said their goodbyes to one another and went their seperate ways.

"This place is really creeping me out..." Sakura whined, staring up at the tall wire fence that separated the Genin from their next test site. The proctor, Anko, just smiled mischeviously at the young ones.

"You should be. This place is called the Forest of Death, and you'll soon find out why." while the pink haired kunoichi shivered at the thought of entering the forest, Naruto just scoffed, mocking the older woman.

"You won't scare me one bit! Do your worst!" he challenged, and she smirked at the blonde.

"Oh really? Looks like we've got a tough guy here." with extreme speed, she pulled out and threw a kunai, grazing the blonde boy's cheek and almost hitting another Genin. Almost instantly, she appeared behind the boy.

"Can you handle this? You're not scared, are you?" she teased, using her finger to wipe away some of the blood on his cheek. "Tough guys like you usually leave their blood all over this forest." the boy look genuinly uncomfortable now, and Arisa couldn't help but smirk as she watched the scene from a few feet away.

 _"Maybe he'll learn before shooting his mouth off during these exams."_ the girl thought, shaking her head.

Something seemed to startle Anko, because she pulled out another kunai and turned around at top speed just in time to find a grass ninja standing behind her, holding the proctor's kunai with her long tongue.

"I was... just returnung your knife." the Grass nin explained innocently.

"Thank you Grass ninja." though she smiled, she couldn't help but be suspicious of the Genin. She couldn't quite tell what it was, but there was something...off, about her.

A few seconds passed but neither one made any attempt to move away. The whole group of Genin seemed rather tense about the situation, and Anko finally got sick of it. "You know, you should only stand behind me like that if you want to reach a premature end." with that, she took the kunai from the girl, the long tongue retracting back into it's owner's mouth.

"My pardon. With the sight of blood and your blade slicing through my hair..." she laughed a bit as she explained, "I'm afraid I just got a little... excited. I meant you no harm."

The Grass ninja finally retreated back to join her group, the proctor smiling as she watched her walk away. "Hm, seems like every body is pretty quick-tempered. There must be something in the air."

After the incident with the Grass ninja, Anko returned to her original spot and started explaining what was expected to pass the test. Each Genin was given a release form, which they had to read and sign to recieve a scroll. They had exactly five days to fight other teams and obtain the scroll they were missing, then return to the tower for the next test. It was an anything goes survival test, something more than half of the teams weren't expected to survive.

"Alright, you maggots! The second part of the test has begun!" Anko exclaimed, and the sentinels opened each individual gate. The Sasaki twins and Kyo wasted no time, rushing through their gate and into the Forest of Death. "There's no way we're gonna fail this time around!" Arisa stated confidently, following her twin sister's lead as they jumped from branch to branch.

"You'd better hope that you're right." Saeko replied, not bothering to look back at her teammates.

After about ten minutes of running, the group of Genin decided to stop at a safe spot to figure out a plan for obtaining an Earth Scroll. Saeko already had the whole thing planned out, it seemed. She told them that they'd all have to split up and look for teams that they'd be able to get scrolls from.

"We meet right here before nightfall, understood?" Saeko asked, and both teammates just nodded in reply. It was a pretty solid plan so no one was gonna even try to argue with it. "Good. Now go!" with that, the three Genin scattered in seperate directions to complete their mission

Team 7 was making their way through the forest, discussing an action plan, when a blood-curtling scream stopped them in their tracks. "T-that sounded like someone screaming." she turned to look at her teammates, a bit nervous. "I do not like this place." she told them, and Naruto just laughed

"Oh come on, it's nothing to be scared of! It's gonna be a piece of cake!" he insisted. His face twisted in discomfort, and he rushed over to the nearest tree. "Excuse me, but I need to-" he tried to explain, but Sakura knew exactly what he was doing.

"Go find a bush or something that's _not_ by me!" the kunoichi yelled at him, giving him a hard punch in the head.

When Naruto came back from his little bathroom break a few minutes later, he was bragging about something stupid. Sakura, as usual, found something to complain about. Sasuke came up behind the blonde and kicked him a few feet back, into a tree.

"Don't you think you're going a little overboard?" Sakura asked with a confused look on her face.

"Yeah, what the heck was that for?" Naruto asked, rubbing where Sasuke's foot made contact with his face. He got no reply from his teammate, only another blow to the face.

"Better watch out, Sakura. I think he's gone crazy!" he warned the pink-haired girl.

"Yeah, right. I just struck before you could!" the Uchiha retorted, taking out a kunai.

"Fine, bring it!" the two went at each other, the metal of their kunai clashing together as they fought. Sakura, who was still very confused by what was going on, look to Sasuke.

"Please stop this, Sasuke. What are you doing?!"

"Take a close look at him!" he insisted, still glaring at the blonde ninja. "Now, spill it! What have you done with the real Naruto?!" he demanded.

"I am the real Naruto!"

"Then where's the cut on your cheek?!" he asked, and the other boy's blue eyes widened in surprise, as if he hadn't been aware of that injury. "I guess you didn't know that the real Naruto got a cut on his cheek before the test! And also, the real Naruto is right handed! Now, who are you?"

"You got me, so what? I'm still going to take your scroll!" Smoke appeared out of nowhere, engulfing the ninja in a cloud of thick fog. When it settled, the imposter revealed his true form, a ninja from the Hidden Rain Village.

"If you just hand over the scroll, I may spare your lives. Now, which one of you has it?" the stranger demanded, his voice somewhat distorted by the device covering his mouth. When it was obvious that neither one was going to give it up, he charged at them. "Fine, i'll take you both out!"


	3. Chapter 3

"This place is really creeping me out..." Sakura whined, staring up at the tall wire fence that separated the Genin from their next test site. The proctor, Anko, just smiled mischeviously at the young ones.

"You should be. This place is called the Forest of Death, and you'll soon find out why." while the pink haired kunoichi shivered at the thought of entering the forest, Naruto just scoffed, mocking the older woman.

"You won't scare me one bit! Do your worst!" he challenged, and she smirked at the blonde.

"Oh really? Looks like we've got a tough guy here." with extreme speed, she pulled out and threw a kunai, grazing the blonde boy's cheek and almost hitting another Genin. Almost instantly, she appeared behind the boy.

"Can you handle this? You're not scared, are you?" she teased, using her finger to wipe away some of the blood on his cheek. "Tough guys like you usually leave their blood all over this forest." the boy look genuinly uncomfortable now, and Arisa couldn't help but smirk as she watched the scene from a few feet away.

 _"Maybe he'll learn before shooting his mouth off during these exams."_ the girl thought, shaking her head.

Something seemed to startle Anko, because she pulled out another kunai and turned around at top speed just in time to find a grass ninja standing behind her, holding the proctor's kunai with her long tongue.

"I was... just returnung your knife." the Grass nin explained innocently.

"Thank you Grass ninja." though she smiled, she couldn't help but be suspicious of the Genin. She couldn't quite tell what it was, but there was something...off, about her.

A few seconds passed but neither one made any attempt to move away. The whole group of Genin seemed rather tense about the situation, and Anko finally got sick of it. "You know, you should only stand behind me like that if you want to reach a premature end." with that, she took the kunai from the girl, the long tongue retracting back into it's owner's mouth.

"My pardon. With the sight of blood and your blade slicing through my hair..." she laughed a bit as she explained, "I'm afraid I just got a little... excited. I meant you no harm."

The Grass ninja finally retreated back to join her group, the proctor smiling as she watched her walk away. "Hm, seems like every body is pretty quick-tempered. There must be something in the air."

After the incident with the Grass ninja, Anko returned to her original spot and started explaining what was expected to pass the test. Each Genin was given a release form, which they had to read and sign to recieve a scroll. They had exactly five days to fight other teams and obtain the scroll they were missing, then return to the tower for the next test. It was an anything goes survival test, something more than half of the teams weren't expected to survive.

"Alright, you maggots! The second part of the test has begun!" Anko exclaimed, and the sentinels opened each individual gate. The Sasaki twins and Kyo wasted no time, rushing through their gate and into the Forest of Death. "There's no way we're gonna fail this time around!" Arisa stated confidently, following her twin sister's lead as they jumped from branch to branch.

"You'd better hope that you're right." Saeko replied, not bothering to look back at her teammates.

After about ten minutes of running, the group of Genin decided to stop at a safe spot to figure out a plan for obtaining an Earth Scroll. Saeko already had the whole thing planned out, it seemed. She told them that they'd all have to split up and look for teams that they'd be able to get scrolls from.

"We meet right here before nightfall, understood?" Saeko asked, and both teammates just nodded in reply. It was a pretty solid plan so no one was gonna even try to argue with it. "Good. Now go!" with that, the three Genin scattered in seperate directions to complete their mission

Team 7 was making their way through the forest, discussing an action plan, when a blood-curtling scream stopped them in their tracks. "T-that sounded like someone screaming." she turned to look at her teammates, a bit nervous. "I do not like this place." she told them, and Naruto just laughed

"Oh come on, it's nothing to be scared of! It's gonna be a piece of cake!" he insisted. His face twisted in discomfort, and he rushed over to the nearest tree. "Excuse me, but I need to-" he tried to explain, but Sakura knew exactly what he was doing.

"Go find a bush or something that's _not_ by me!" the kunoichi yelled at him, giving him a hard punch in the head.

When Naruto came back from his little bathroom break a few minutes later, he was bragging about something stupid. Sakura, as usual, found something to complain about. Sasuke came up behind the blonde and kicked him a few feet back, into a tree.

"Don't you think you're going a little overboard?" Sakura asked with a confused look on her face.

"Yeah, what the heck was that for?" Naruto asked, rubbing where Sasuke's foot made contact with his face. He got no reply from his teammate, only another blow to the face.

"Better watch out, Sakura. I think he's gone crazy!" he warned the pink-haired girl.

"Yeah, right. I just struck before you could!" the Uchiha retorted, taking out a kunai.

"Fine, bring it!" the two went at each other, the metal of their kunai clashing together as they fought. Sakura, who was still very confused by what was going on, look to Sasuke.

"Please stop this, Sasuke. What are you doing?!"

"Take a close look at him!" he insisted, still glaring at the blonde ninja. "Now, spill it! What have you done with the real Naruto?!" he demanded.

"I am the real Naruto!"

"Then where's the cut on your cheek?!" he asked, and the other boy's blue eyes widened in surprise, as if he hadn't been aware of that injury. "I guess you didn't know that the real Naruto got a cut on his cheek before the test! And also, the real Naruto is right handed! Now, who are you?"

"You got me, so what? I'm still going to take your scroll!" Smoke appeared out of nowhere, engulfing the ninja in a cloud of thick fog. When it settled, the imposter revealed his true form, a ninja from the Hidden Rain Village.

"If you just hand over the scroll, I may spare your lives. Now, which one of you has it?" the stranger demanded, his voice somewhat distorted by the device covering his mouth. When it was obvious that neither one was going to give it up, he charged at them. "Fine, i'll take you both out!"

Sasuke launched himself into the air to avoid the oncoming attack, quickly forming a few hand signs. "Fire Style: Pheonix Flower Jutsu!" suddenly, she started shooting giant fire balls at the enemy. The Rain ninja had a little trouble but still managed to dodge them all, before launching himself at the Uchiha boy.

When his head on attack didn't work in his favor, the Rain ninja turned and started making his way through the forest with Sasuke hot on his heels. "Get back here!" the raven haired boy called.

"Hey, get me out of this!" he heard his hyperactive teammate yelling from the ground.

 _"You've gotta be kidding me! Naruto, you loser..."_ Sasuke though to himself. He threw one of his kunai and cut the rope around his arms, giving Naruto the freedom to take care of the rest.

"Thank you!" the blonde called as the Uchiha passed him, who was still chasing the Rain ninja that had attacked them.

"Better stay focused on me!" the Rain ninja reminded him, throwing a few kunai. Sasuke hid behind a tree branch, letting the weapons stick themselves in the wood. However, he didn't notice the paperbombs attached to them until it was almost too late.

"Shit!" he cursed as the paperbombs exploded. The Genin landed hard on the ground, wincing at the force of the impact.

"Sorry, this is one test you fail. Now hand over the scroll, or _die._ " the Rain ninja warned, appearing behind him and holding a kunai to the back of his neck.

"Sasuke!" Sakura's voice echoed through the quiet forest as she entered earshot. This distracted the rain ninja long enough for Naruto to make his move. The knuckleheaded ninja threw a kunai and jumped out of the tree just as the enemy dodged the attack.

 _"Better late than never, I guess."_ Sasuke thought, focusing chakra into his foot. He caught the kunai his teammate had thrown before it hit the ground and sent it right back at the target. The ninja was so focused on dodging the weapon that he didnt see the Uchiha boy coming at him. By the time he realized what was about to happen, it was too late. The weapon penetrated his abdomen, some blood splattering on the rookie.

"Sasuke, are you alright?!" the pink haired girl called from where she was standing.

"Be careful, Sakura! Chances are this guy's not alone, keep your guard up!" he warned, before the Rain ninja pushed away from him.

"I wish. I came on my own so I didn't arrouse suspicion, but that was a bad idea." with that, the enemy retreated deep into the forest, his stab wound still bleeding quite a bit.

After the enemy ran away with his injuries, Team 7 sat down to discuss what to do next. They couldn't chance someone infiltrating their team if they managed to get separated. They needed a password, something known only by the three of them. Little did they know, they weren't exactly alone.

Arisa had set her sights on a group of seemingly weak Genin that had a Heaven Scroll and kept in the shadows of the forest, waiting for her chance to strike. The only reason that she figured it out is because the boy carrying the scroll made the mistake of taking it out for any nearby team to see.

Saeko had told her and Kyo that the mission was to pick out weak Genin with Heaven Scrolls, then report back to camp with their locations. She knew she should do what her sister told her, but it seemed easier to just take their scroll while she was there. They already seemed to have let their guard down, so it would be a breeze to just take the scroll and leave.

She stealthily made her way from tree branch to tree branch, careful not to alert her targets of her presence. She was about to jump down and strike, when a kunai flew right by their head. "Come out, now." the boy holding the scroll demanded, looking over in her direction.

The brunette jumped down a good distance away from the group, a bit surpised by being called out. She didn't ever expect that they'd be able to detect her presence. "Didn't think you'd find me." she commented, and the boy that'd called her out just glared at her.

"You want our scroll, right?" he asked, pulling out a kunai and holding it defensively. "Well, you're gonna have to come get it."

"Don't mind if I do." she starting running toward the group, throwing three shuriken at the Genin, piercing them all in their necks. Just when she'd thought she'd won, the three boys disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and in their place were logs. "Substitution?!" she cursed silently for letting herself be fooled, looking around to see if she could find them.

Without warning, Arisa recieved a hard kick to the face. She didn't have an opportunity to hit the ground, because the boy's teammates took turns punching her in the stomach. They stopped after a moment, letting the girl fall to her knees on the grass.

"You done yet?" the same boy from before asked, standing over her with his arms crossed. She didn't reply because she was too busy coughing up blood, so he assumed that she wouldn't try anything.

He was wrong; before he had the opportunity to do anything, she stabbed him in the leg with her kunai. He cried out in pain, using his uninjured leg to step on her head he forced her face into the dirt.

Sasuke hid in the bushes as a large wind torrent cut through the forest, leaving behind a large crater path. He didn't know what he should expect, so he had a kunai in hand and ready just in case.

He jumped out from his hiding spot as soon as he felt a presence to his left, holding his kunai in a defensive position.

"Oh, it's just you." he visibly relaxed a bit, but his guard was definitely still up.

"Sasuke, i'm so glad that you're-" she started to squeal and walk towards the Uchiha boy, until she was told to stop.

"When does a ninja strike?" he asked, waiting for her to answer the question. She recited the password perfectly, proving that she wasn't the enemy in disguise. he exhaled in relief, then turned to find Naruto rushing toward them, screaming for their attention.

"Don't come any closer! What's the password?" Sakura stopped him in his tracks, and he just grinned at them. bragging that he knew the whole thing.

"A ninja a waits 'til the time is right, when the enemy sleeps and drops his guard. When his weapons lie forgotten in the stillness of the night. That is the time for a ninja to strike." the blonde recited the password completely, and Sakura smiled.

Sasuke, however, wasn't buying that this person was who they appear to be. He threw a kunai at the blonde, watching him fall over onto his right side to dodge it.

"What was that?! You could have killed me!" the blonde yelled in outrage.

"Gotta hand it to you, you're quicker than the last one." the Uchiha commented.

"What are you talking about, what was wrong with that? He just got the password right, word for word!" the pink haired Genin tried to defend Naruto.

"That's what's wrong. Do you really think he could memorize it _and_ get it word-for-word?" he asked, holding his kunai up again. "Not the Naruto I know, not in a million years. You'd have a better chance of teaching it to a hamster." Sakura sighed and agreed with the Uchiha boy. There was no way he'd be able to memorize all of that password.

"Besides, you saw how this guy moved when he dodged my attack. It definitely wasn't a Naruto move. Now show yourself, whoever you are." He demanded, and the blonde boy smirked devilishly, lickinging his lips.

"Aren't we the clever one?" in a huge puff of smoke, the boy revealed who he really was. Turns out, it was the Grass Ninja that had a run-in with Anko right before the second exam started. "Tell me, if your teammate is really _that_ stupid why would you give a password that he couldn't possibly remember?" she asked curiously.

"It wasn't for Naruto, so much as for anyone that just so happened to be eavesdropping on us. It was a trap, and you walked right into it.

"Very impressive. You certainly haven't dropped your guard, have you?" She cooed, taking off her hat. "This will be very entertaining..." She licked her lips again with her long and pointy tongue, causing Sakura to shiver as she watched.

 _"She gives new meaning to the word creepy... And where the heck is Naruto?"_ she though silently to herself, wondering if the boy would return to his team soon. By the looks of this enemy they were going to need all the help they could get.

"I bet you'd love to get your hands on our Earth Scroll, wouldn't you?" the grass Genin taunted, holding his scroll up for the rookies to see. They didn't move or say a thing, just waited for their enemy to make a move.

To their surprise, the Grass ninja opened his mouth and his freakishly long tongue wrapped itself around the scroll. The two leaf Genin were completely shocked, just stood there and watched him swallow it whole. In a way, it was like a snake swallowing it's prey.

"Well, when this is all over one of us will have both scrolls, and the other..." an evil grin spread across her face as she continued to speak. "...will be dead!"


	4. Chapter 4

. While Sasuke and Sakura were busy dealing with the creepy grass Genin, Naruto had been swallowed whole by a giant snake. The thing was large; much larger than anything the rookie had ever seen.

He'd spent time struggling, kicking the slippery insides of the snake and screaming for help but nothing helped. It seemed that he would die inside the stomach of the large serpent. " _Is this really how it ends? I'm just gonna be snake crap left behind in the woods?"_ he asked himself, starting to lose his hope of ever getting out.

It was then that he had an idea of how to get out, and it seemed like it would work. He had dreams of becoming Hokage, and he wasnt about to give up just because he'd been swallowed by a snake. He needed to get out and continue to chase his dreams.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" the stomach of the giant snake began expanding as Naruto created as many shadow clones as he could. The snake's stomach continued to expand until it exploded, freeing the blonde ninja.

He and all of is clones escaped from the dead snake's insides, panting and covered in the creature's bodily fluids. "Sorry, but you picked the wrong ninja to swallow. I'm gonna be Hokage someday!" he exclaimed, catching his breath.

The two remaining members of Team 7 were standing about ten feet or more away from the Grass ninja, neither one were able to move. They'd been trapped in some sort of Genjutsu and were forced to watch the moment of their deaths. Sasuke fell to his knees and started throwing up, while his pink-haired partner just sat there.

"Sakura?" he asked shakily, looking over at the girl. The Genjutsu must have hit her worse, because she was unable to speak. She was visibly shaking, with tears streaming down her face. He knew that he needed to find a way to get them both away from their enemy, otherwise they're as good as dead.

The Grass ninja just stood there, laughing at how pathetic the rookies looked. "You're paralyzed with fear, aren't you?" she asked the question, though she'd already known the answer. Sasuke clenched his jaw, trying desperately to regain control of his body.

"What's wrong with me?! Come on, move..! Move, Sasuke, move!" he told himself, but it didn't seem to be helping much. He looked down at his kunai holster, fighting his hardest to grab the weapon. He finally seemed to be regaining a little bit of control, through it took work.

He managed to slowly pull out a kunai and climb shakily to his feet, which seemed to amuse the Grass ninja. "Good job. Now, what are you going to do?" she asked with a devious smirk. As soon as Sasuke looked into her eyes, he lost what little control he had fought for.

 _"Shit, it's no use... I can't move!"_ he cursed, watching her slowly walk toward him and his immobile teammate.

"Don't worry, I'll end it quickly, but I don't have to tell you that. You've seen it with your own eyes." she raised her arm above her head, ready to throw the kunai. "I expected you to be more of a challenge. How disappointing." As the kunai flew through the air and toward the two rookies, Sasuke began to panic. If he didn't find a way to move quickly, he and Sakura would both die.

 _"Come on, you have to move!"_ Sasuke told himself, trying his hardest to free himself from the paralysis. Just before it was too late he made one final and desperate attempt to free himself. He used all of his willpower to stab himself in the thigh with his kunai. Using the pain to overcome his crippling fear of death, he used the opportunity to pick Sakura up and get to safety.

The young Uchiha winced as he wrapped his hand around the kunai's handle. Taking a deep breath, he quickly pulled the blade out of his thigh, blood following it. Sakura, who seemed to have snapped out of her trance, let out a surprised gasp.

"Sasuke, that wound looks deep! Will you be alri-" he quickly slapped a hand over the pink haired girl's mouth. They needed to stay quiet so the Grass ninja wouldn't be able to find them.

 _"We've gotta move..! Gotta get away from her..! But how?! Where?!"_ he was definitely starting to freak out, and even Sakura could see it. She'd never seen him so upset and anxious before, and it was actually starting to scare her.

Suddenly, she noticed that a huge shadow had been cast on them and looked up. Her eyes widened as she saw what it was; a giant snake towered above them, ready to strike. She screamed into the Uchiha boy's hand before freeing her mouth.

"Sasuke, look out!" he glanced over just in time to see the snake as well. Before it could clamp it's jaws around the two Genin, they dodged the serpent's attack. _"Shit, I didn't even notice! I must be losing it..!"_ he thought in a panic, still moving through the air.

As the snake attacked, Sasuke though he'd seen the Grass ninja that had almost killed him. "No! Get away from me!" he screamed, pulling out a few shuriken and throwing them at the serpent. The blows were fatal, and the snake died before it had it the tree.

Sasuke's eyes widened when he watched the skin of the serpent break open, watching a figure climb out of it. Both of the members of Team 7 were shocked to see that it was the Grass Genin that was coming out of the snake's corpse.

"I can sense your fear and desperation. It's only natural; the prey must never let down it's guard, not even for a moment... In the presence of it's predator!" she looked the Uchiha right in his eye, licking her lips with her freakishly long tongue and laughing manically.

Her body seemed to stretch and contort as she launched forward after Sasuke. Her lower body looked like that of a snake's; allowing her to slither up the base of a tree, trying to get to the young rookie.

He cried out as she got closer, the fear evident on his facial features. Sasuke, the fearless Avenger, was terrified for once. Before the serpent-woman was able to reach the Uchiha boy, someone had thrown kunai and shuriken on the tree branch in front of her, keeping her from getting any closer.

"Looks like I came just in time!" the farmiliar blonde knucklehead exclaimed, grinning proudly. Sakura was surprised to see her blonde teammate again, but she had never been happier.

Arisa stood up shakily, tasting the blood in her mouch mixing with the dirt she was forced to ingest. She didn't anticipate having this much trouble with this team; they seemed so weak and naive when she was following them.

"Are you finished yet?" the 'leader' of the Genin squad asked, moving the red hair from his face. Arisa spit out the vile mixture in her mouth, glaring at him. Before she had the chance to reach for another of her weapons, she heard a farmiliar voice speak up.

"I cannot believe you're getting beaten by these losers." everyone glanced over in the direction of the voice, seeing Saeko striding toward them.

"This doesn't concern you." the boy commented, turning his back on the girl. He completely ignored Arisa's twin sister, which irritated her. Since he was paying no attention, she took the chance and hit him in the neck with her hand, watching as he fell unconcious to the ground.

"Actually, this does concern me." she said coldly, before turning her attention to his teammates. Without their group leader to tell them what to do they immediately folded, throwing their hands up in the air.

"H-he has the scroll. Take it! Don't hurt us, please!" they thought their desperate begging would save them, but she just crossed her arms in disappointment

"Ari, you want to help me out?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder. The brunette nodded, walking over to stand next to her sister. The twins targeted one of the boys, taking turns punching and kicking him in the face.

They stopped attacking him, giving him the opportunity to climb to his knees. "Ready?" Arisa asked, and her twin silently nodded. They both began concentrating chakra into their feet, preparing for the final attack. It was a move they had come up with together; they trained for quite some time to perfect it.

Saeko started the attack, kicking him and causing the boy to fly up into the air. Both the girls jumped up after him, taking turns pummeling him with chakra-powered feet. Once they got quite a few hits in, they both raised a leg and prepared for the final blow. They both kicked him in the head at the same time, causing him to hit the ground hard.

The two girls landed on their feet, looking down at the second unconcious boy. It was silent for a minute, before Arisa looked at her sister and said "Thanks for helping me out. I probably-" she stopped when her sister put a hand in her face.

"You're pathetic, Arisa." she fished the scroll out of the red-haired boy's pocket then walked away without another word, leaving her twin sister alone in the clearing.

Naruto kneeled on a tree branch, trying to catch his breath as he stared up at the giant snake and it's master. The Grass ninja laughed at the blonde boy from her spot on the snake's head. "What a tasty little meal you'll make. Be careful, he likes to play with his food." she commented.

Just then, the snake swung it's tail, aiming right for Naruto. It broke the branch he was kneeling on, causing the rookie to fall down about ten feet or so until he landed on another one. He rolled off and, while unconcious, began falling toward the serpent's open mouth.

"Enough playing. Finish him off." the Grass ninja ordered, watching as the boy fell closer and closer. Suddenly, he regained his conciousness and turned himself upright, bringing his foot down and kicking the snake as hard as he could in he nose.

As the rookie moved back, the serpent-woman saw something different about him; his eyes had turned red and he seemed more agressive. Her eyes widened a bit as he started punching her pet snake repeatedly, not letting up in the slightest.

"Naruto's completely lost it." she said with a sigh, but gasped when he started doing serious damage to the snake and everything around it. "Woah, where'd he get all of that strength?!" she'd never seen him so strong, or violent for that matter. She didn't want to admit it, but it was kind of scary.

He kicked off of a tree and went for another powerful punch, but instead ran headfirst into a giant fire-like cloud. He began falling again, breaking tree branch after tree branch until he finally landed on one.

"T-That fire in his eyes, there's no mistaking it!" the serpent-woman sputtered in disbelief, before grinning madly. _"This is getting very interesting."_ she thought, before turning her full attention to the Uchiha boy.

Without hesitating, her snake moved it's large head toward Sasuke quickly, prepared to strike. He was so scared that his legs wouldn't move, so matter how hard he tried. It seemed to be looking grim, but Naruto intervened. Standing infront of his teammate, he stabbed the snake in the face with a kunai.

"Hey, kid. You aren't hurt, are you?" he asked, looking up at his teammate while "Scaredy-cat." he finished, glaring at the boy.

 _"I-Is that really Naruto?!"_ Sasuke's eyes widened when he saw the blonde's eyes. He had never seen him like this.

"Standing there, frozen, like a frightened rabbit. You're not the Sasuke I know, no way!" he screamed. He was completely sickened by how weak Sasuke was being. Just standing there, doing absolutely nothing.

After a long and grueling fight, they finally thought that it was over. The serpent-woman was tied tightly to a tree and unconcious, while Naruto hung by his shirt on one of the trees. Sasuke swayed a bit as he stood, weak from all the chakra he used.

"Sasuke, you did it!" his pink-haired teammate screamed as she ran to him. "Are you okay? Don't worry, it's all over now!" she tried to comfort him. She didn't know just how wrong she was about that, because the serpent-woman broke free while the two rookies were talking.

Both of the Genin froze in place, finding that they were unable to move yet again. Sakura dropped to her knees and shook slightly, trying to move her body. The snake-woman's dark laughter echoed through the forest air, catching the attention of the two rookies.

"Such mastery of the Sharingan at such an age? You're a true Uchiha, after all." she observed, her voice becoming more masculine all of a sudden. "Yes, you're definitely his brother. In fact, your eyes are even keener than Itachi's." these comments about his brother seemed to strike a tender spot in the boy.

"Who are you? What do you want?!" he screamed, earning a laugh from the ninja. Sasuke eyes widened when he saw that part of the woman's face was melting off, and that she was now wearing a Sound Village headband. It was obvious that this person was not who they appeared to be.

"My name is Orochimaru." the masculine voice echoed through the forest, tossing around the rookie team's Heaven Scroll. It turned out that it was a man the entire time. "As to what I want, that will have to wait until you pass this test with the best score possible." as he finished his sentence, the Heaven Scroll started burning with green flames.

"No, the scroll!" Sakura gasped, still struggling to move. Orochimaru ignored the rookie and informed them that they would need to beat his Sound Village henchman. The two had absolutely no idea what they were going to do.

The Genin watched as the serpent-man's neck contorted and stretched inhumanly. His neck stretched a hundred or more feet until he reached the two teens. Sasuke cried out in pain as Orochimaru sunk his canines into his neck. The bite mark began burning, causing so much pain that Sasuke fell to his knees screaming.

"W-what did you do to him?!" Sakura demanded, glaring at the man.

"I just gave him a little parting gift. Very soon Sasuke will seek me out, desiring my power." as he spoke, the sound ninja began sinking into the tree branch. "I enjoyed seeing the power that you already possess." the man finally disappeared, leaving the rookies alone.


	5. Chapter 5

While the pink haired rookie was watching over her unconcious teammates, she felt her eyelids getting heavy. She shook her head and let out a drawn-out sigh, rubbing her eyes with her hands. She knew she couldn't fall asleep and leave her team defenseless, but it was hard not to give in.

The moonlight shone through the crevices in the walls of their shelter, illuminating the small space. She didn't know exactly how much time had passed since her teammates were concious, but it felt like forever. After a few more moments of fighting it, she finally gave in and closed her eyes.

Hiding in the bushes, watching the rookie squad, were the three Sound Village Genin. Dosu, the leader of the team, smirked from under his bandages as he saw Sakura fall asleep. "Just as Orochimaru ordered, we strike at daybreak." he turned his gaze to his other male teammate, Zaku. "Remember, our target is the Uchiha. _Only_ the Uchiha."

"Yeah but if the other two get in our way, we can kill them?" the other boy asked, crossing his arms.

"Of course. The Sound Genin remained in the shadows, silently waiting for their chance to attack and fulfill the mission.

Sakura woke with a start, scrambling frantically to her feet before realizing where she was. She saw that she was in the same place as when she'd fallen asleep with her two teammates. She couldn't help but feel relieved when she saw that the two boys were there, though they were unconcious.

"Ah, it was just a dream." she sighed, looking up above here. She was surprised to see that daytime had come already, and that she'd slept through the whole night.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a rustling in the bushes behind her _. "Had he come back for Sasuke?" instincively, she_ grabbed a kunai to defend herself and slowly turned to look behind her. There in the middle of a clearing stood a small little squirrel.

"Jeez, don't surprise me like that little guy!" she called sofly, watching it run toward her. She gasped, throwing her kunai right in front of the furry creature. Scared, the squirrel turned and took off through the bushes.

"That was close." she commented with a sigh, turning back to her unconcious teammates. She promised that she'd watch over and take care of them, so that's exacly what she was planning to do.

A few hours passed, and Sakura was struggling to even keep her eyes open. She kept telling herself that she had to stay awake, but she could feel herself getting even more tired each time.

"Some look out. You're half asleep." someone pointed out, and she glanced over in surprise. Across the clearing, she saw the three Sound Genin standing there and looking right at her. "Oh no..." she thought, keeping her hand on her weapon holster. She had a pretty good idea of why those three came, and she wasn't about to go down without a fight.

"At least you don't need to keep watch anymore. After all, what's the point when we've already found you?" he glanced over at the unconcious Uchiha boy for a moment, before turning back to Sakura. "Now, wake Sasuke up. We want to fight him." he ordered.

"What do you want here? I mean, what do you really want? I know Orochimaru is calling the shots from the shadows!" these words seemed to surprise the three Sound ninja. "What's that strange bruise on the back of Sasuke's neck?! You're behind this, too, aren't you?! And now you wanna fight him when he can't defend himself?!" she kept demanding answers, and the three just looked even more confused.

 _"What in the world could Orochimaru be thinking?!"_ Dosu thought. Orochimaru getting to them first wasn't the plan he'd been told about.

"I can't sit back after the way you've been talking to us. First i'm going to kill this girl, then i'm gonna kill Sasuke." Zaku said, standing up on a large boulder.

"Wait, Zaku." the younger Sound ninja looked confused, but did as he was told. "This is the color of dirt that's been recently dug up, and this kind of grass doesn't grow like this."

"He figured it out?!" the pink haired rookie thought, surprised by the Sound ninja's observation.

"If you're going to lay a trap, you migt want to make sure it's actually hidden." Dosu advised, standing up. "Now we kill her." with that, the three Sound Genin launched forward, ready to strike.

Smirking, Sakura stood up and cut a wire and set off another trap she'd set up. A giant log that'd been tied up with rope came swinging right at the enemies, taking trees down with it. Without missing a beat, Dosu put his hand on it and, after doing a hand sign, destroyed it with one move.

"You have no talent as a ninja. You need to make a little more effort, don't you think?" he taunted, him and his squad still coming at her. Her green eyes teared up and she closed her eyes, prepared to face her fate.

"Leaf Hurricane!" she heard a farmilar voice yell, and opened her eyes just in time to see someone fighting the three Sound ninja. she gasped when Rock Lee landed in front of her in a defensive stance. _"W-What is this guy doing here?"_ she thought, looking up at the Leaf Village Genin.

"I think that you should also make more of an effort." Lee retorted, his black bowl-cut hair swaying with the wind. H

"Who are you?" the leader of the Sound Village squad asked, looking at the young man.

"I'm the hansome devil of the Hidden Lead Village, and my name is Rock Lee!" he announced confidently, the squirrel from before perched on his shoulder.

"What are you doing here, Lee?"

"I will always appear any time any anywhere that you are in trouble, Sakura." he replied, taking the squirrel off of his shoulder and setting it down next to him. "This is all really thanks to you, little one. Now, it is time for you to run along."

"But Lee, during these exams i'm your enemy." she reminded him, and he looked back at her with a smile.

"Sakura, I already told you, didn't I? I will protect you until I die." she thought back to when she'd first met him before the exams. He had promised to protect her until he died.

"Y-yes. Thank you, Rock Lee." she said sofly. The strange black-haired boy looked straight ahead, his mind racing. _"Yes, she said yes! Did you hear that, Gai-Sensei?! She said yes!" he thought excitedly._

"I guess I have no choice." Dosu said with a sigh, pulling out a blue scroll. "Zaku, i'll let you have Sasuke. I'll take care of these two." he threw the scroll back at Zaku, who caught it without a word.

Lee shifted his weight from one foot to the other, not putting down his guard. _"It seems that Sakura is in no condition to be fighting."_ he thought to himself. It was going to be difficult, but he made a promise to protect her with his life and he wasn't about to go back on his word.

Dosu came charging at the two Genin, preparing to attack. Lee deflected the attack right before he could strike, causing the Sound ninja to stumble back a bit. "I know there is a trick to your attack, therefore, I will not waste my time trying to dodge it. After all, i've seen your jutsu before." he explained, then began working on an attack plan.

Even though he had an advantage by knowing his moves, Lee knew that they were still going to be hard to beat because it was three against one. After contemplating his strategies, he decided that he would take them all out one at a time.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone around that's weaker than us!" Ino complained, putting her hands behind her head with a sigh.

"Not so fast," her lazy teammate stopped her, crossing his arms. "I still think that Naruto's team might be weaker than we are." he was expecting the blonde to agree with him, but instead she got angry.

"You take that back, you jerk!" she yelled, raising a fist at Shikamaru.

"What do you mean?" he asked, a hint of annoyance laced in his voice.

"There's no doubt that Naruto and Sakura are lame, but I won't let you badmouth Sasuke like that! He's awesome!" she screamed, and he shook his head at the Uchiha's fangirl.

"Yeah, whatever. Maybe your precious _Sasuke_ is better in theory than in practice." he suggested, but saw that his sarcastic comments were only making her angrier. "Alright, alright. I apologize if I upset you."

"There is no way Sasuke could lose a battle!" she insisted, crossing her arms and huffing. "But Sakura is a different matter." she went on complaining about the pink-haired girl and how weak she was.

A short distance away from his bickering teammates, Choji sat in a tree eating, like always. He stopped scarfing down his food when he saw something a distance away from the group. "Hey guys, Sasuke is collapsed. Sakura's fighting." he observed, both of his teammates seeming surprised, joining him on the branch.

He was right; in a clearing not far from them, they could see Sasuke collapsed and unconcious, with the pink-haired rookie fighting to protect him.

Dosu charged at the couple again, prepared for yet another attack. Lee stood there, unwrapping the bandages on his arms. _"Gai-Sensei, I must use the jutsu! The condition has been met!"_ the green-suited boy thought to himself, before getting into an offensive stance and doing a hand sign. _"When protecting someone precious!"_ he quoted his teacher, before disappearing into thin air.

"He disappeared!?" Dosu looked around for the boy. Lee appeared in front of him, ducking down and kicking him right under the jaw and launching him into the air. He appeared behind the Sound Genin, wrapping him in his chakra-infused bandages so he couldn't move. Holding onto him, Lee flipped them both upside-down and started falling at increasingly high speed.

"Oh no, Dosu. There's no way he can survive that fall!" doing a few hand signs, Zaku stuck his hands in the ground. His teammate hit the ground, but Lee released him and returned to his spot near Sakura.

"Ha, got you just in time. That impact could have been a lot worse for you." Dosu ignored his teammate and got back on his feet, shaking himself off.

"What? That cannot be!" he yelled in confusion. His enemy shouldn't be upright and standing after that attack.

"That is a frightening jutsu. Would have taken me out if I hadn't landed on this soft dirt." Dosu commented, turning to face Lee. "Now it's my turn!" The Leaf Genin stumbled a bit as his enemy charged. He still hadn't managed to recover from the strain his jutsu had put on his body.


End file.
